News briefs from around Florida

HOLIDAY -- A Cinderella story it isn't. There is a mysterious shoe and a fitting to find its rightful owner. There's even a wedding.

But, at least for the shoe's alleged owner, there is no happily ever after.

The story begins at 1:34 a.m. about 100 miles west of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom when a Ford van plowed into the bathroom of a house in suburban Holiday. Residents Sandy McCombie and her fiance, Michael Toth, watched the van's driver flee across their front lawn -- leaving a shoe behind.

The Florida Highway Patrol was investigating the crash about an hour later when 43-year-old John Glen Aquista of Holiday walked up to the scene.

The Pasco County man was bloody, wearing boxer shorts and, most importantly, shoeless. His injuries looked a lot like he smashed his face into a steering wheel, investigators said. Aquista "denied any involvement in the traffic crash," a Florida Highway Patrol report said. The van wasn't his, but it was registered to the address where he lived, the FHP said.

When a trooper asked him to slip on the wayward shoe, "it was a perfect fit," the FHP said.

Aquista was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage and driving without a valid license. He was being held in the Pasco County jail on $1,250 bond Monday, jail records show. It was not clear if he had an attorney.

McCombie, 46, and Toth, 39, plan to get married on Friday.

Boy bitten by shark in St. Lucie County

HUTCHINSON ISLAND -- A 12-year-old boy was taken to the hospital after a shark bit him on the leg, authorities said.

Matthew Honyak told authorities he saw the mouth of a shark as it bit his left ankle on Sunday, the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Lifeguards responded to the scene, and Honyak was transported to a hospital and treated for puncture wounds on his lower left leg. He was discharged later Sunday, according to hospital records.

Sunday's shark bite was reportedly the fourth in the waters off Hutchinson Island in the past six weeks. Hutchinson Island is located in St. Lucie County on Florida's east coast.

Prehistoric crocodile replica snatched

NAPLES -- The fiberglass model of an eight-foot primitive crocodile looked real enough to slither off, so the staff at the Naples Botanical Garden knew something was amiss when visitors weren't commenting on the realistic replica.

The $15,000 Crocodile Africanas replica was gone. The staff believes it was taken the night of April 14 when the facility's gate was open but most of the visitors were indoors. They reported the theft to the Collier County Sheriff's Office on April 16.

"It's so sad," said Jill Barry, Naples Botanical Garden director of external affairs. "We're hoping they didn't understand it was an item of great value. It qualifies as grand theft. We're hoping someone will return it so we do not have to pursue further action."

The crocodile was among about two dozen prehistoric creatures on display during the "Dinosaurs in the Garden" exhibit. The life-size fiberglass dinosaur sculptures are part of a traveling show made by Missouri artist and fossil collector Guy Darrough.

"It's one of a kind," Barry said of the stolen crocodile. "It's essentially a work of art."